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Off Main Street: Barnstormers, Prophets Gatemouth's Gator: Essays
Whether he’s fighting fires, passing a kidney stone, hammering down I-80 in an 18-wheeler, or meditating on the relationship between cowboys and God, Michael Perry draws on his rural roots and footloose past to write from a perspective that merges the local with the global.
Ranging across subjects as diverse as lot lizards, Klan wizards, and small-town funerals, Perry’s writing in this wise and witty collection of essays balances earthiness with poetry, kinetics with contemplation, and is regularly salted with his unique brand of humor.
Ranging across subjects as diverse as lot lizards, Klan wizards, and small-town funerals, Perry’s writing in this wise and witty collection of essays balances earthiness with poetry, kinetics with contemplation, and is regularly salted with his unique brand of humor.
304 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2005
28 people are currently reading
361 people want to read
About the author
Michael Perry
25 books607 followersMichael Perry is a New York Times bestselling author, humorist and radio show host from New Auburn, Wisconsin.
Perry’s bestselling memoirs include Population 485, Truck: A Love Story, Coop, and Visiting Tom. Raised on a small Midwestern dairy farm, Perry put himself through nursing school while working on a ranch in Wyoming, then wound up writing by happy accident. He lives with his wife and two daughters in rural Wisconsin, where he serves on the local volunteer fire and rescue service and is an amateur pig farmer. He hosts the nationally-syndicated “Tent Show Radio,” performs widely as a humorist, and tours with his band the Long Beds (currently recording their third album for Amble Down Records). He has recorded three live humor albums including Never Stand Behind A Sneezing Cow and The Clodhopper Monologues, is currently finishing his first young adult novel, and can be found online at www.sneezingcow.com.
Perry’s essays and nonfiction have appeared in numerous publications including The New York Times Magazine, Esquire, Backpacker, Outside, Runner’s World, Salon.com, and he is a contributing editor to Men’s Health magazine. His writing assignments have taken him to the top of Mt. Rainier with Iraq War veterans, into the same room as the frozen head of Ted Williams, across the United States with truckers and country music singers, and—once—buck naked into a spray-tan booth.
In the essay collection Off Main Street, Perry wrote of how his nursing education prepared him to become a writer by training him in human assessment, and he credits singer-songwriters like Steve Earle and John Prine with helping him understand that art need not wear fancy clothes. Above all, he gives credit to his parents, of whom he says, “Anything good is because of them, everything else is simply not their fault.” His mother taught him to read and filled the house with books; his father taught him how to clean calf pens, of which Perry has written, “a childhood spent slinging manure – the metaphorical basis for a writing career.”
Perry has recently been involved in several musical collaborations, including as lyricist for Grammy-nominated jazz pianist Geoffrey Keezer, and as co-writer (with Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon) of the liner notes for the John Prine tribute album “Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows.” Perry also collaborated with Vernon and Flaming Lips lead singer Wayne Coyne on a project that began when Vernon approached Perry and said, “Say, you’re a nurse…” The results were bloody, but then that was the point.
Of all his experiences, Perry says the single most meaningful thing he has ever done is serving 12 years beside his neighbors on the New Auburn Area Fire Department.
Mike says:
If I had to sum up my ‘career’ in one word, it would be gratitude. I get to write and tell stories all around the country, then come home to be with my family and hang out at the local feed mill complaining about the price of feeder hogs. It’s a good life and I’m lucky to have it.
Perry’s bestselling memoirs include Population 485, Truck: A Love Story, Coop, and Visiting Tom. Raised on a small Midwestern dairy farm, Perry put himself through nursing school while working on a ranch in Wyoming, then wound up writing by happy accident. He lives with his wife and two daughters in rural Wisconsin, where he serves on the local volunteer fire and rescue service and is an amateur pig farmer. He hosts the nationally-syndicated “Tent Show Radio,” performs widely as a humorist, and tours with his band the Long Beds (currently recording their third album for Amble Down Records). He has recorded three live humor albums including Never Stand Behind A Sneezing Cow and The Clodhopper Monologues, is currently finishing his first young adult novel, and can be found online at www.sneezingcow.com.
Perry’s essays and nonfiction have appeared in numerous publications including The New York Times Magazine, Esquire, Backpacker, Outside, Runner’s World, Salon.com, and he is a contributing editor to Men’s Health magazine. His writing assignments have taken him to the top of Mt. Rainier with Iraq War veterans, into the same room as the frozen head of Ted Williams, across the United States with truckers and country music singers, and—once—buck naked into a spray-tan booth.
In the essay collection Off Main Street, Perry wrote of how his nursing education prepared him to become a writer by training him in human assessment, and he credits singer-songwriters like Steve Earle and John Prine with helping him understand that art need not wear fancy clothes. Above all, he gives credit to his parents, of whom he says, “Anything good is because of them, everything else is simply not their fault.” His mother taught him to read and filled the house with books; his father taught him how to clean calf pens, of which Perry has written, “a childhood spent slinging manure – the metaphorical basis for a writing career.”
Perry has recently been involved in several musical collaborations, including as lyricist for Grammy-nominated jazz pianist Geoffrey Keezer, and as co-writer (with Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon) of the liner notes for the John Prine tribute album “Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows.” Perry also collaborated with Vernon and Flaming Lips lead singer Wayne Coyne on a project that began when Vernon approached Perry and said, “Say, you’re a nurse…” The results were bloody, but then that was the point.
Of all his experiences, Perry says the single most meaningful thing he has ever done is serving 12 years beside his neighbors on the New Auburn Area Fire Department.
Mike says:
If I had to sum up my ‘career’ in one word, it would be gratitude. I get to write and tell stories all around the country, then come home to be with my family and hang out at the local feed mill complaining about the price of feeder hogs. It’s a good life and I’m lucky to have it.
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December 17, 2024
"A man asked me recently how I deal with writer's block, and I said my muse is a bald man named Jim. He sits in a swivel chair just up the road at Sterling Bank, and he holds my mortgage. When the words don't come, I think of Jim, and I get to typing." -- the author's source of inspiration, on page 6
As an ardent admirer of author Perry's memoir-based Population: 485 and Truck: A Love Story (freewheeling accounts of his dual farming and volunteer firefighting avocations in small-town Minnesota) several autumns ago, it felt a bit like serendipity to find another one of his works on a recent pleasant book trail excursion with a lady friend through central Pennsylvania and northern Maryland. His Off Main Street is slightly different, however, as it is a collection of 30+ essays from the 1996-2001 era, many of which were previously first featured in magazines. They are loosely categorized by certain similar themes - small town citizens and their lives, the salt-of-the-earth truck drivers that help keep our nation's shelves stocked with goods, professional musicians on tour, health issues, traveling experiences, the various good and bad (and oddities) of organized religion, and all of that random stuff that fits in-between - but still add up to one often-amusing and very engaging assemblage of Americana. I especially liked the sage-like and straight-shooting wisdom of blues singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown, who - based on his plain-spoken quotes - should've considered a run for U.S. president. And a late entry - in which Perry composes a sly response to alarmingly being invited to a white supremacy-sponsored picnic (!) - was a sublimely polite kiss-off to the folks and their misconceived and/or narrow-minded views.
As an ardent admirer of author Perry's memoir-based Population: 485 and Truck: A Love Story (freewheeling accounts of his dual farming and volunteer firefighting avocations in small-town Minnesota) several autumns ago, it felt a bit like serendipity to find another one of his works on a recent pleasant book trail excursion with a lady friend through central Pennsylvania and northern Maryland. His Off Main Street is slightly different, however, as it is a collection of 30+ essays from the 1996-2001 era, many of which were previously first featured in magazines. They are loosely categorized by certain similar themes - small town citizens and their lives, the salt-of-the-earth truck drivers that help keep our nation's shelves stocked with goods, professional musicians on tour, health issues, traveling experiences, the various good and bad (and oddities) of organized religion, and all of that random stuff that fits in-between - but still add up to one often-amusing and very engaging assemblage of Americana. I especially liked the sage-like and straight-shooting wisdom of blues singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown, who - based on his plain-spoken quotes - should've considered a run for U.S. president. And a late entry - in which Perry composes a sly response to alarmingly being invited to a white supremacy-sponsored picnic (!) - was a sublimely polite kiss-off to the folks and their misconceived and/or narrow-minded views.
December 13, 2013
Michael Perry can string together sentences and paragraphs with the best of them. His clever turns of phrase flow together in a steady stream that would rival the Chippewa River. And yet, the perspective and tone of Perry's clever phrases often waver, diminishing the impact of his collection of columns and short essays.
Not content to play either the small-town rube or the know-it-all city slicker, Perry puts one mud-caked boot in each role. The resultant back-and-forth can practically cause whiplash, as the author both celebrates and admonishes his subject matter, sometimes even in the same sentence. The eccentric country folk that populate his stories are on some occasions regarded as wise, and on other occasions regarded as simple and trifling.
Perry's whipsawing perspective might be a little easier to stomach if it weren't wrapped in such a judgmental tone. Although he claims to view the world with the detachment of a casual observer, he too often comes across as a bitter crank. In Perry's mind, The Way Things Used To Be and The Way Things Should Be are often intertwined.
In the decade or so that has passed since Off Main Street was originally published, Perry has ditched the pretense of urbane omniscience and gone native, writing about chicken coops and vintage tractors. As a result, his writing has progressed to the point where Off Main Street is now a testament to the positive track his writing career has taken, instead of a warning sign of things to come.
Not content to play either the small-town rube or the know-it-all city slicker, Perry puts one mud-caked boot in each role. The resultant back-and-forth can practically cause whiplash, as the author both celebrates and admonishes his subject matter, sometimes even in the same sentence. The eccentric country folk that populate his stories are on some occasions regarded as wise, and on other occasions regarded as simple and trifling.
Perry's whipsawing perspective might be a little easier to stomach if it weren't wrapped in such a judgmental tone. Although he claims to view the world with the detachment of a casual observer, he too often comes across as a bitter crank. In Perry's mind, The Way Things Used To Be and The Way Things Should Be are often intertwined.
In the decade or so that has passed since Off Main Street was originally published, Perry has ditched the pretense of urbane omniscience and gone native, writing about chicken coops and vintage tractors. As a result, his writing has progressed to the point where Off Main Street is now a testament to the positive track his writing career has taken, instead of a warning sign of things to come.
April 16, 2017
https://msarki.tumblr.com/post/159620...
Just a week ago, after reading Michael Perry’s upcoming book, Montaigne in Barn Boots: An Amateur Ambles Through Philosophy, which was my first introduction to Perry, I decided to go back to the beginning and construct for myself his evolution as a writer. Several of the essays collected here were already published in an early book. I guess this collection is a “best of”, or something along the lines of Perry’s “greatest hits”. But from the beginning I was struck how the book might instead be about his regrets and a chance at setting the record straight now that he has achieved no little success as a writer. Section I, Around Here, in the essay titled Big Things, Perry kind of apologized, as a footnote, for his disingenuous comment that he believed now nine years later lowered the discourse to a level he would be forced to crawl out from. When I first read the essay with his original comment calling the bombastic radio celebrity Rush Limbaugh a big fat idiot I immediately agreed with Perry’s evaluation and believed it fit for a buffoon the likes of Limbaugh who daily spews his reckless right-wing fire. But after some success as a man of letters, it is possible that Michael Perry has reevaluated his position and feels he could now attract some unwanted Limbaugh attention. Perry’s nine years spent as a volunteer fireman might also raise the stakes and suggest caution for maybe creating a fire of his own making. I do understand and suppose that Perry didn’t need to make that original comment, but I smiled to myself when I first read it.
The horror of September 11, 2001 demands action, but also words. Perry includes in this collection an essay titled Taking Courage and it ranks in my mind as one of the best essays regarding that date in American history alongside another brilliant piece written by David Foster Wallace. Perry stayed a safe distance away from the patriotic bent so many others seem to take and focussed instead on the contrast between the horror of the attack and its affect on our humanity, or lack thereof. It saddens me to think it took me over fifteen years to find this accomplished piece. Puzzling how the New Yorker or almost any magazine that touts its great chops could have missed this fine work and failed to publish it. And pardon me, but same goes for my poem Mewl House in September that remains absent every occasion of the remembrance of that date.
Mewl House in September
It was the beauty
of the date, the
clearness of the
morning’s
possibility that
destroyed our
well-being.
Imagine a fiery
bird hanging from a
word. And a
subjugated sun
and the plumes
that made history.
The largeness of
dread, of humanity
scrambling,
covered with dust
and the violence of
futility. Those
were anxious
moments before
the spade. The
polemical sense of
innocence
and provocation.
And the cloud of
horror in the order
to go about our
day.
If my wife would have read Perry’s Houses on Hills prior to my reading it she would have left her seat and come running for me, waving the book about like a handful of burning Fourth of July sparklers, insisting I sit down and read that essay right away. And that is what I am pleading us all to do. All of us need to be more aware of what we already know in our hearts to be true but are afraid to confront publicly. Our eyes, in this case, never lie. Disgusting architectural abominations dot our wondrous natural landscape and no amount of bad taste has initiated any slowdown I can see. Our constructions keep getting worse. But again, to my dismay, Perry adds another footnote at the end of this essay pointing out that his rereading of it ten years later seems to him a bit too snotty and that his essay failed to take into consideration these families hopes and struggles. Fact is, Perry now runs into all these types of people and does business with some of them. But if it wasn’t for his own success he would have nothing to fear. What really makes Perry a great writer is his honesty, and what ruins artists in the long run is mediation. I am afraid for Perry of what Gordon Lish perpetually warned his students about. Celebrity and success is often poisonous to achieving great literature. Jeopardy always rules.
Section II titled Gearjammers wasn’t exactly my cup of tea. Essays regarding trucks and truckers and the whole over-the-road culture pretty much bores me even in light of the importance their work and life make to our country’s commerce and the dangers imposed by their massive machines sharing the road with so many dim-witted citizens who should never be behind the wheel in the first place. But I did suffer through the section of seven essays always in awe of Perry’s attempts and his enduring willingness to get a story.
I realized in Section III, On Tour, while reading The Osmotic Elvis that I was tiring of these short essays in a way that had nothing to do with the quality of the writing or the subject matter. I simply wanted Perry’s longer versions. I need entire books detailing one subject, and was feeling impatient and eager to end this collection of short essays and get onto the more important work of Michael Perry. Population: 485 awaited me on my shelf as well as every other book he has written since its publication. It did not take me long to figure out that Perry’s strength is in the long form. It is what makes him more accessible. He is a person you want to know. His shorter essays are good, but not great. Perry, for example, could have written an entire book on Elvis and made it worth reading. The Osmotic Elvis was, in essence, for me, merely a tease.
In Section IV, The Body Electric, it is obvious Perry becomes more personal. Less reportage on what is outside himself, and more focussed on what is within. One dire episode in his life dealing with a kidney stone demanded he write about it. It was good. Perry ends this section with an essay titled Catching at the Hems of Ghosts and in it he covers death and funerals in a feel-good, light-hearted but solemn manner.
Section V, Way Off Main Street, brings us on home and I am so dutifully prepared to get on to the business of reading his longer and more developed work. One final notation being another snide remark about Rush Limbaugh in People to Avoid on the Backpack Circuit in which Perry adds some disparaging remarks about himself and his love for Snickers bars and then adds another one about his gadget disease and the fact he packed a portable water purifier around Belize. Perry said this purifier was so good it “would separate Rush Limbaugh from a box of chocolates.” Made me smile again, and for a second, hoped there would not be another retraction at the end of the essay. But unfortunately, there was. But his Branding God did get me. A fine essay regarding Perry’s stint as a young cowboy and his eventual rejection of his fundamental religious upbringing. One of the longest pieces in the book, and probably his most honest.
My pathetic response here to Perry’s collection of essays is one of my worst book reviews ever. One I probably should not have written. But nothing here really struck me as significant enough to make me want to digress into writing something more felt or meaningful to me. And in that, I suppose, as a whole, the book, though enjoyable, somewhat failed me.
Just a week ago, after reading Michael Perry’s upcoming book, Montaigne in Barn Boots: An Amateur Ambles Through Philosophy, which was my first introduction to Perry, I decided to go back to the beginning and construct for myself his evolution as a writer. Several of the essays collected here were already published in an early book. I guess this collection is a “best of”, or something along the lines of Perry’s “greatest hits”. But from the beginning I was struck how the book might instead be about his regrets and a chance at setting the record straight now that he has achieved no little success as a writer. Section I, Around Here, in the essay titled Big Things, Perry kind of apologized, as a footnote, for his disingenuous comment that he believed now nine years later lowered the discourse to a level he would be forced to crawl out from. When I first read the essay with his original comment calling the bombastic radio celebrity Rush Limbaugh a big fat idiot I immediately agreed with Perry’s evaluation and believed it fit for a buffoon the likes of Limbaugh who daily spews his reckless right-wing fire. But after some success as a man of letters, it is possible that Michael Perry has reevaluated his position and feels he could now attract some unwanted Limbaugh attention. Perry’s nine years spent as a volunteer fireman might also raise the stakes and suggest caution for maybe creating a fire of his own making. I do understand and suppose that Perry didn’t need to make that original comment, but I smiled to myself when I first read it.
The horror of September 11, 2001 demands action, but also words. Perry includes in this collection an essay titled Taking Courage and it ranks in my mind as one of the best essays regarding that date in American history alongside another brilliant piece written by David Foster Wallace. Perry stayed a safe distance away from the patriotic bent so many others seem to take and focussed instead on the contrast between the horror of the attack and its affect on our humanity, or lack thereof. It saddens me to think it took me over fifteen years to find this accomplished piece. Puzzling how the New Yorker or almost any magazine that touts its great chops could have missed this fine work and failed to publish it. And pardon me, but same goes for my poem Mewl House in September that remains absent every occasion of the remembrance of that date.
Mewl House in September
It was the beauty
of the date, the
clearness of the
morning’s
possibility that
destroyed our
well-being.
Imagine a fiery
bird hanging from a
word. And a
subjugated sun
and the plumes
that made history.
The largeness of
dread, of humanity
scrambling,
covered with dust
and the violence of
futility. Those
were anxious
moments before
the spade. The
polemical sense of
innocence
and provocation.
And the cloud of
horror in the order
to go about our
day.
If my wife would have read Perry’s Houses on Hills prior to my reading it she would have left her seat and come running for me, waving the book about like a handful of burning Fourth of July sparklers, insisting I sit down and read that essay right away. And that is what I am pleading us all to do. All of us need to be more aware of what we already know in our hearts to be true but are afraid to confront publicly. Our eyes, in this case, never lie. Disgusting architectural abominations dot our wondrous natural landscape and no amount of bad taste has initiated any slowdown I can see. Our constructions keep getting worse. But again, to my dismay, Perry adds another footnote at the end of this essay pointing out that his rereading of it ten years later seems to him a bit too snotty and that his essay failed to take into consideration these families hopes and struggles. Fact is, Perry now runs into all these types of people and does business with some of them. But if it wasn’t for his own success he would have nothing to fear. What really makes Perry a great writer is his honesty, and what ruins artists in the long run is mediation. I am afraid for Perry of what Gordon Lish perpetually warned his students about. Celebrity and success is often poisonous to achieving great literature. Jeopardy always rules.
Section II titled Gearjammers wasn’t exactly my cup of tea. Essays regarding trucks and truckers and the whole over-the-road culture pretty much bores me even in light of the importance their work and life make to our country’s commerce and the dangers imposed by their massive machines sharing the road with so many dim-witted citizens who should never be behind the wheel in the first place. But I did suffer through the section of seven essays always in awe of Perry’s attempts and his enduring willingness to get a story.
I realized in Section III, On Tour, while reading The Osmotic Elvis that I was tiring of these short essays in a way that had nothing to do with the quality of the writing or the subject matter. I simply wanted Perry’s longer versions. I need entire books detailing one subject, and was feeling impatient and eager to end this collection of short essays and get onto the more important work of Michael Perry. Population: 485 awaited me on my shelf as well as every other book he has written since its publication. It did not take me long to figure out that Perry’s strength is in the long form. It is what makes him more accessible. He is a person you want to know. His shorter essays are good, but not great. Perry, for example, could have written an entire book on Elvis and made it worth reading. The Osmotic Elvis was, in essence, for me, merely a tease.
In Section IV, The Body Electric, it is obvious Perry becomes more personal. Less reportage on what is outside himself, and more focussed on what is within. One dire episode in his life dealing with a kidney stone demanded he write about it. It was good. Perry ends this section with an essay titled Catching at the Hems of Ghosts and in it he covers death and funerals in a feel-good, light-hearted but solemn manner.
Section V, Way Off Main Street, brings us on home and I am so dutifully prepared to get on to the business of reading his longer and more developed work. One final notation being another snide remark about Rush Limbaugh in People to Avoid on the Backpack Circuit in which Perry adds some disparaging remarks about himself and his love for Snickers bars and then adds another one about his gadget disease and the fact he packed a portable water purifier around Belize. Perry said this purifier was so good it “would separate Rush Limbaugh from a box of chocolates.” Made me smile again, and for a second, hoped there would not be another retraction at the end of the essay. But unfortunately, there was. But his Branding God did get me. A fine essay regarding Perry’s stint as a young cowboy and his eventual rejection of his fundamental religious upbringing. One of the longest pieces in the book, and probably his most honest.
My pathetic response here to Perry’s collection of essays is one of my worst book reviews ever. One I probably should not have written. But nothing here really struck me as significant enough to make me want to digress into writing something more felt or meaningful to me. And in that, I suppose, as a whole, the book, though enjoyable, somewhat failed me.
May 28, 2020
Perry is a treasure. I can be having the worst day and Perry's homespun, rural midwest centric humor will break the clouds.
This collection highlights Perry's boundless curiosity about people and what drives them--the mobile butcher in his home of Auburn, WI, the truck driver hauling freight to the oil fields on Alaska's North Slope, a klan wizard, a barnstorming pilot, even country western star Aaron Tippin's love of vintage dump trucks. Perry presents each story authentically, in the subjects own words, with a dash of personal reflection, humor and above all humaneness.
Perry is often compared to Garrison Keillor who's built a media empire from stories of Lake Wobegon. I've always considered Keillor's art a bit Cracker Barrel schitck. Stories too cozy with characters too colorful and too much sweetness and light to be anything but fantasy. Perry's colorful characters are real. They're Perry's friends, neighbors and acquaintances, by turns tragic and triumphant in the face of challenges we can all recognize. There is coziness and edge in equal measure. Perry will never be a media mogul. He cares too much. He'll remain the slightly scruffy, plaid wearing guy in the bar, cafe, or truck stop wanting to hear your story, just because.
if you've never read Perry, I would not start here. Start with Population 485. A true story, Perry returns to his childhood home of New Auburn after 12 years away. He joins the volunteer fire department and becomes reacquainted with his neighbors one fire, car wreck and bar fight at a time. What could be a chronicle of despair ends up being a uplifting ode to community and resilience. A truly wonderful read. From there move to Truck, Perry's account of meeting his wife in the course of restoring and old farm truck. Very funny.
This collection highlights Perry's boundless curiosity about people and what drives them--the mobile butcher in his home of Auburn, WI, the truck driver hauling freight to the oil fields on Alaska's North Slope, a klan wizard, a barnstorming pilot, even country western star Aaron Tippin's love of vintage dump trucks. Perry presents each story authentically, in the subjects own words, with a dash of personal reflection, humor and above all humaneness.
Perry is often compared to Garrison Keillor who's built a media empire from stories of Lake Wobegon. I've always considered Keillor's art a bit Cracker Barrel schitck. Stories too cozy with characters too colorful and too much sweetness and light to be anything but fantasy. Perry's colorful characters are real. They're Perry's friends, neighbors and acquaintances, by turns tragic and triumphant in the face of challenges we can all recognize. There is coziness and edge in equal measure. Perry will never be a media mogul. He cares too much. He'll remain the slightly scruffy, plaid wearing guy in the bar, cafe, or truck stop wanting to hear your story, just because.
if you've never read Perry, I would not start here. Start with Population 485. A true story, Perry returns to his childhood home of New Auburn after 12 years away. He joins the volunteer fire department and becomes reacquainted with his neighbors one fire, car wreck and bar fight at a time. What could be a chronicle of despair ends up being a uplifting ode to community and resilience. A truly wonderful read. From there move to Truck, Perry's account of meeting his wife in the course of restoring and old farm truck. Very funny.
February 28, 2024
This is a funny, poignant, and (sometimes) cantankerous book of 33 essays (plus an introduction and a postscript) that take us readers through America's back roads, Southern porches (where a gator lives underneath), big cities, and even a seat on a country music star's tour bus.
The author is Michael Perry, a registered nurse, EMT, and firefighter from a (very) small Wisconsin town turned full-time freelance writer. Let's just say, he has a perspective on life that is somewhat unusual and that is evident in many of these essays.
Some of my favorites:
��� "You Are Here" tells a tale about water towers—how they work and why we need them, as well as a tour of some unusual water towers, including one in Coral Gables, Florida that is disguised as a lighthouse with a sundial attached and the one in Gaffney, South Carolina that looks like a giant peach.
• "Swelter" is a description of summer told mostly from a kid's point of view that will have you wiping the sweat from your forehead and reaching for a glass of iced tea—even if you read in February as I did.
• "Rolling Thunder" is an emotionally heartrending tale of riding on the tail of a Harley-Davidson during the annual Memorial Day protest by Vietnam vets to remember those who never came home—the missing in action and prisoners of war.
• "Sara Evans": Climb aboard country music star Sara Evans's tour bus, and find out what it's really like being a popular singer as Perry spent one intense week living and working with the band, crew, and Sara.
• "Life in the Fat Lane" is a funny and oh-so-true examination of America's battle of the bulge.
The author is Michael Perry, a registered nurse, EMT, and firefighter from a (very) small Wisconsin town turned full-time freelance writer. Let's just say, he has a perspective on life that is somewhat unusual and that is evident in many of these essays.
Some of my favorites:
��� "You Are Here" tells a tale about water towers—how they work and why we need them, as well as a tour of some unusual water towers, including one in Coral Gables, Florida that is disguised as a lighthouse with a sundial attached and the one in Gaffney, South Carolina that looks like a giant peach.
• "Swelter" is a description of summer told mostly from a kid's point of view that will have you wiping the sweat from your forehead and reaching for a glass of iced tea—even if you read in February as I did.
• "Rolling Thunder" is an emotionally heartrending tale of riding on the tail of a Harley-Davidson during the annual Memorial Day protest by Vietnam vets to remember those who never came home—the missing in action and prisoners of war.
• "Sara Evans": Climb aboard country music star Sara Evans's tour bus, and find out what it's really like being a popular singer as Perry spent one intense week living and working with the band, crew, and Sara.
• "Life in the Fat Lane" is a funny and oh-so-true examination of America's battle of the bulge.
October 6, 2021
Even in these early essays, Perry shows himself to be a gifted observer and writer. Some of the essays ramble and wind around a bit (early, remember), but you always feel like you're listening to a really smart pal.
xx-dnf-skim-reference
August 19, 2017Many of the essays have been elsewhere collected. Many are in subjects I have no interest in. But still, in my quest to read everything the man writes, I did wind up reading most of this. What I can't do is rate it objectively. I can't even recommend it objectively. Do I hope you'll love his writing as much as I, and my mother, father, brother, and my husband, do? Yes. Do I expect you to? Not necessarily.
Do give him a chance, though. Start with the pieces that on subjects you are interested in, or with a longer book like Population: 485 : Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time or Truck: A Love Story or maybe Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting. Or with samples available on https://sneezingcow.com/. Maybe you'll have a new favorite author, too.
Do give him a chance, though. Start with the pieces that on subjects you are interested in, or with a longer book like Population: 485 : Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time or Truck: A Love Story or maybe Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting. Or with samples available on https://sneezingcow.com/. Maybe you'll have a new favorite author, too.
January 1, 2009
Essays by the author of Population: 485. I loved that book; it was one of my favorite things I read this year. This book is not nearly as good. It’s really just a collection of some random magazine articles Perry wrote over the years, some of which are quite interesting, others not so much. A lot of them are about trucks. I used to edit car magazines for a living, and I have to say, when I’m not getting paid for it, reading essays about engines is not something I really want to spend time doing. Even when his topics are more diverse, none of these pieces is particularly electrifying. Perry’s a very good writer, but with these short snippets, he has nothing to build toward, and the effect is utterly unlike the amazing power of Population: 485. Read that instead.
July 3, 2025
A book for those who love music and/or trucking.
This is the fourth Michael Perry book I've read and (as you can guess from the two stars) a disappointment. I loved "Population: 485" and "Coop." Both of them tell about his return to the small town in Wisconsin where he grew up. "Truck: A Love Story" continues the saga of his morphing into a middle-aged man with a family. I liked all of it but the parts about the old truck he restored. A little talk about used car parts goes a long way with me.
This is a group of essays. It's heavy on stories about music - mostly country and folk and some rock. Music means little to me. There are many stories about truckers. I respect the trucking industry. I think most truckers are hard-working, intelligent professionals. The service they provide is vital to our modern way of life. It just doesn't interest me much.
What does it say about me that the two essays I liked most were the one about the history of the small-town Greyhound Bus Terminal and the one about the author passing a kidney stone? I'm really afraid to think about it. There were a few others that were mildly entertaining, but I did a lot of skimming and skipping.
It takes two people to make a book enjoyable - the author and the reader. The fact that I brought nothing to the table on this one doesn't mean that you won't. He's a fine writer and an admirable person. Not having enjoyed this one won't keep me from buying more of his books.
This is the fourth Michael Perry book I've read and (as you can guess from the two stars) a disappointment. I loved "Population: 485" and "Coop." Both of them tell about his return to the small town in Wisconsin where he grew up. "Truck: A Love Story" continues the saga of his morphing into a middle-aged man with a family. I liked all of it but the parts about the old truck he restored. A little talk about used car parts goes a long way with me.
This is a group of essays. It's heavy on stories about music - mostly country and folk and some rock. Music means little to me. There are many stories about truckers. I respect the trucking industry. I think most truckers are hard-working, intelligent professionals. The service they provide is vital to our modern way of life. It just doesn't interest me much.
What does it say about me that the two essays I liked most were the one about the history of the small-town Greyhound Bus Terminal and the one about the author passing a kidney stone? I'm really afraid to think about it. There were a few others that were mildly entertaining, but I did a lot of skimming and skipping.
It takes two people to make a book enjoyable - the author and the reader. The fact that I brought nothing to the table on this one doesn't mean that you won't. He's a fine writer and an admirable person. Not having enjoyed this one won't keep me from buying more of his books.
March 26, 2023
I like older Michael Perry books a bit better, where he focused more on his upbringing and younger years as a single man and nurse/EMT/fire-fighter, although maybe as I age his father/husband-centric books will be more interesting than they currently are. His works set in Wisconsin are his most interesting, However, I do enjoy seeing these essays, the ones he’s always describing in his books that clearly are more about making $$ and paying bills, with some actual art and craft thrown in there when able. Some are interesting short looks at things we don’t often think about. I like that he tries his best to juggle his judgmentalness and nostalgia, and the whiplash in sentiment is familiar and relatable. His best essays are reminiscent of Brian Doyle, delighting in the mundane and under-appreciated. His worst…well they’re the generic magazine fodder that pays his bills, and they’re still not terrible by any means.
August 27, 2024
I read Population 485 prior to reding this book and liked that book a tad better than this one. I also skipped a couple essays in this book. Those two reasons are why I gave it only 3 stars. I love Michael Perry's humor, and he is certainly a great storyteller. I also love that he is a Wisconsin author! He is colorful and sweet with a raw honesty I have come to admire.
August 22, 2025
Some great essays in the beginning and end. Middle ones on country singers and truckers weren’t for me, but his battle with existentialism, Christianity, and just figuring out what it means to be ourselves struck my heart strings. Well humored too, I really enjoyed the essay abt his time in Belize and categorizing backpackers, not much has changed in 20 years.
January 11, 2018
Terrific writing, as usual from Michael Perry. I like this book, but I have (so far) found his memoirs to be far more engaging - Population 485, Coop, Visiting Tom, Truck. In my opinion, you can't go wrong with a Michael Perry, but there are choices that are more right than others. (-:
January 6, 2021
Excellent collection of essays!
Thought-provoking, humorous, and reflective - everything I have come to expect from Perry. Enjoy the variety of topics covered and the reflection it brought me. Recommend this book to all!
Thought-provoking, humorous, and reflective - everything I have come to expect from Perry. Enjoy the variety of topics covered and the reflection it brought me. Recommend this book to all!
November 8, 2022
Book of essays...I found it interesting because I live in the same state as the author. I also love country music and several articles were related to that. About a third of the essays weren't interesting to me, but to each their own!
March 17, 2022
Always entertaining and insightful, this collection of essays was(as expected from Michael Perry) a fun read.
April 13, 2024
A fine-enough, unassuming collection of Midwest anecdotes that never thinks itself to be anything else. The sort of thing you keep on your bedstand to check back in on after headier reads.
April 21, 2019
Great introduction to this author. Being from Wisconsin myself, I've been looking for a 'home state' author like Perry for a while, and I find his prose both easy to understand but also graceful, several of the pieces in this book digging down into the deeper truths of life, especially the last one that deals with his struggles in regards to religion. Awesome collection of short little essays.
September 11, 2012
I enjoy reading Michael Perry - his eclectic tastes and interests mirror my own.
This collection of essays, while some are rehashed, does not disappoint.
We can choose to go through life simply staring at the images flashing past our eyes, or we can stop and investigate. Get down, get dirty, get involved, ask questions, participate and learn something, grow our own perspective - enjoy the experience - learn to appreciate our differences, laugh recognizably at our similiarities and realize that this is what living is all about. This is what Michael Perry is all about.
And to think that the general public thinks Wisconsin is populated by one dimensional cheeseheads! Give Mike a whirl. His writing stands tall.
This collection of essays, while some are rehashed, does not disappoint.
We can choose to go through life simply staring at the images flashing past our eyes, or we can stop and investigate. Get down, get dirty, get involved, ask questions, participate and learn something, grow our own perspective - enjoy the experience - learn to appreciate our differences, laugh recognizably at our similiarities and realize that this is what living is all about. This is what Michael Perry is all about.
And to think that the general public thinks Wisconsin is populated by one dimensional cheeseheads! Give Mike a whirl. His writing stands tall.
January 2, 2020
The book is about the author and all of the experiences that he has had throughout his life. The book also talks about all of the different events that he has gotten to go to throughout his life and the people that he has gotten to meet as well.
The things that I like about the book is the fact that I can relate to the author in a few different ways. I also am able to understand some things that he has gone through in his life. I also like the connection that is made to different people throughout the book and the connection that I am able to make through his experiences.
Overall, I really like this book because of the way that I was able to connect to the author through the different themes and experiences that he talked about in the book.
The things that I like about the book is the fact that I can relate to the author in a few different ways. I also am able to understand some things that he has gone through in his life. I also like the connection that is made to different people throughout the book and the connection that I am able to make through his experiences.
Overall, I really like this book because of the way that I was able to connect to the author through the different themes and experiences that he talked about in the book.
May 2, 2013
Although I absolutely loved "Population: 485" this collection of essays didn't give me the same satisfaction. There were moments though. One of my favorite moments was this description of attending the funeral of an elderly neighbor:
"Looking on from the backmost pew, I was swept by the thought of this unassuming man as the nexus of so much love, and I cried a little. I felt self-conscious later, afraid someone might think I was appropriating the family's grief for a man I hardly knew. But I was not bereaved. I was simply grateful to witness the legacy of this man".
"Looking on from the backmost pew, I was swept by the thought of this unassuming man as the nexus of so much love, and I cried a little. I felt self-conscious later, afraid someone might think I was appropriating the family's grief for a man I hardly knew. But I was not bereaved. I was simply grateful to witness the legacy of this man".
May 24, 2016
After reading 3 of Mike's books, and waiting to read his 4th, I thought i'd read his collection of short stories. My feelings ranged from "why am I reading this" to "this is very funny". But with a dictionary on my knees, (he's a user of big words), I'm a better man than you, Gunga Din. Horse riding;"I've seen drag racers throwing fire 35 ft. and burn rubber for a quarter mile, but this horse made them look like a Rambler with bad clutch plates". a sample.
June 7, 2009
Favorite quotes:
"War is a morally repulsive business, and when the fog of battle clears, we are quick to consign the details to history and myth. But the veterans are the details that walk among us."
"That history grows toward the past, but it is born in the present - a fact that implicates each of us in the shape of the future."
"We spring from a thicket of tangents.
"War is a morally repulsive business, and when the fog of battle clears, we are quick to consign the details to history and myth. But the veterans are the details that walk among us."
"That history grows toward the past, but it is born in the present - a fact that implicates each of us in the shape of the future."
"We spring from a thicket of tangents.
April 10, 2013
Michael Perry lives in a small town near Eau Claire, WI, and writes about small town life. This is a collection of his essays, most of which have been published in some other form. I enjoy his writing in part because I am familiar with the area about which he writes, and because I grew up in a small midwestern town, so I can identify with much of what he writes about.
September 20, 2013
Stories by a Wisconsin farm boy, trained to be a nurse, and now a free lance writer. Highly recommended for those times when you want a relaxed evening hearing a friendly guy tell stories about where he's been and what he's done. Deceptively simple writing with just the right details to make places and people real.
March 4, 2016
Have seen Michael Perry onstage three times and there is nothing like hearing him tell his stories in person, but reading his books is almost as much fun. Funny, touching, and of course, living in the same general neck of the woods makes many of his stories familiar. (His kidney stone story is all too familiar for my husband but you gotta laugh.)
December 6, 2015
Michael Perry is always entertaining to read. This collection of his early essays is a little of a mixed bag, as some pieces show him clearly in the process of finding and developing his literary voice. That said, Perry's talent and turn of a phrase still shine through, making this a worthwhile read.
April 21, 2008
A great collection of essays. I preferred some more than others just because of the topics addressed, but even the ones I didn't LOVE were really good, well-written, thought-provoking. On to Truck, A Love Story...
December 11, 2008
I am glad that I read Mike Perry's books in reverse chronological order because I enjoyed this one the least. His writing has developed into something much better, and I'm happy for that for any of his future writings.
December 18, 2009
Well now I've read everything by Michael Perry. This was an interesting collection of essays. I had no idea how diverse his early writing experience was. I especially liked the road stories about Sara Evans and Aaron Tippen.
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